and from the clean eating community for transparency from food corporations and a holistic way of eating.   Similarly, clean beauty consumers wanted increased transparency from beauty companies regarding the ingredients in their products. As this desire grew, beauty brands began to claim their products were natural, organic, non-GMO, and vegan where appropriate. Consumers’ concerns about the validity of these claims led some brands to seek out certifications from bodies in the cosmetic industry, including The Vegan Society, PETA, Beauty without Bunnies, USDA Organic, Natural Products Association, NON-GMO Project, and Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America.  However, the continued desire for transparency led some in the beauty community to educate themselves on cosmetic ingredients and regulations and reach the conclusion that the claims and ingredients provided by brands could not be trusted; thus, the clean beauty movement we know today was born.  Since the consumer sentiment was that brands were being dishonest, beauty companies began to adjust their formulations accordingly and start marketing their products as being ‘free-from’: paraben-free, preservative-free, gluten-free, phthalates-free. Beauty retailers such as Sephora, Ulta, Credo, and many more launched their own clean beauty certifications, outlining requirements for brands to either enter their store or receive a clean beauty certification or seal. Often, these requirements involved a list of ingredients that could not be included in formulations, or only in certain concentrations. For example, the “Clean at Sephora” stamp of approval is given to brands that formulate with the exclusion of ingredients such as mineral oils, formaldehyde, and parabens, an especially controversial ingredient in the realm of clean beauty discussions. Why are parabens subjected to such strong criticism? The narrative around parabens highlights what happens when brands, retailers and the media misinterpret the science around clean beauty and play into consumers’ fears. After it was revealed that parabens have been found in cancerous breast tissue, many took this to mean that they cause cancer. However, that has never been proven. When parabens are used in cosmetic products, they are used within regulatory limits, typically under one per cent. Parabens are only harmful in significantly high doses, which are unlikely to be absorbed through a cosmetic product. Because of this, the FDA has classified methyl and propylparaben as Generally Regarded as Safe (GRAS) for use in preserving food, and yet, many brands continue to avoid parabens. Kosas Cosmetics is one such brand. It claims to “ban over 2,700 ingredients and adhere to the EU, Sephora and Credo clean standards.” A few of those banned ingredients are effective broad-spectrum preservative systems, such as parabens and phenoxyethanol. This may have been a factor in the controversy last year after some consumers claimed to have found mold in Kosas’ Revealer Concealer product and highlights the risks of reputational damage for clean beauty brands. The fading allure of “clean beauty” marketing Fear sells in the beauty industry like sex sells in the entertainment industry. Many brands began formulating in alliance with the Environmental Working Group (EWG), Yuka App and Think Dirty App ratings. These rating systems are readily accessible to consumers who use these apps as a source of information. Most clean beauty brands are focused on telling consumers what is not in their products instead of what is in them. This has created knock-on effects on the business-to-business (B2B) side of the clean beauty movement.  For consumers to keep buying from brands, contract manufacturers and raw material suppliers have had to comply with these new standards of beauty to stay in business. Some contract manufacturers and raw material suppliers started their own clean beauty marketing campaigns. This aligned with what the end consumers desired. However, as evidenced by the narrative around parabens, some of the marketing efforts to push clean beauty are less than honest. The irony is that end consumers simply wanted transparency and to know that their cosmetic products are safe to use, but they ended up being sold what they wanted to hear, not what is scientifically proven to be safer or better. The clean beauty movement was positioned as progress; however, in hindsight, it essentially preyed on the fear of an uneducated consumer. As the clean beauty movement has become a juggernaut, tensions between cosmetic chemists and marketing teams have grown. Cosmetic chemists have stepped into the spotlight to explain the science behind beauty products, as many of the claims and statements made by marketing departments are not scientifically backed.  Influencers with a solid understanding of science, including Jen Novakovich (@theecowell), Allison Turquoise (@allisonturquoise), Jane Tsui (@janethechemist), Javon Ford (@javonford16), and Ava Perkins (@ava.perki) just to name a few, have gained followings for their claim debunking. However, this is not enough. Brands, contract manufacturers and raw material suppliers must commit to improving their media and marketing efforts surrounding what they are selling. The clean beauty trend emerged out of a need for transparency and snowballed into a fear-mongering avalanche that perpetuates misinformation and insecurities to the end consumer. This can be remedied by allowing science communicators and technical marketing people to take the lead in educating people and ensuring every claim a business makes is scientifically accurate.  As consumers become more educated about what clean beauty is, it will no longer be possible for brands and retailers to rely on fear-mongering tactics in their marketing. The Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act of 2022 was put into place to help keep cosmetic companies accountable for their claims and safety testing. The implications of this new law are still becoming clear, but it could be the foundation of a shift within the beauty industry to increase product transparency and safety.  For their part, brands should focus on creating highly efficacious and safe products without adding to the fear-mongering in marketing campaigns. Good products will sell, and companies need to trust that again.